Issues

Campaign themes

2012

"Taxes should be lowered so that the Texans can keep more of what they earn."

"I am committed to removing unnecessary regulations so that businesses can grow and create new jobs. I will also actively work against the creation of any new governmental and bureaucratic red-tape."

Stop Frivolous Lawsuits

"This includes working to institute a true loser-pays system, encouraging the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution procedures such as mediation and arbitration, cutting back on wasteful discovery methods and eliminating needless juror profiling."

Uphold the Tenth Amendment

"I will fight any efforts to erode the rights granted to the States under the Tenth Amendment. The Federal Government is expanding and intruding on our constitutionally-guaranteed States’ rights at an alarming rate. This must stop."

Balance the State Budget

"The budget shortfall expected in 2013 must be addressed head on with clear and bold leadership, without the continued accounting gimmicks designed to mislead taxpayers."

"I will fight any effort to increase taxes or tap into the Rainy Day Fund. I will also work to make the system honest and transparent to the taxpayers."

Elections

2014

Elections for all 150 seats in the Texas House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election took place on March 4, 2014. Those candidates who did not receive 50% or more of the vote in their party primary on March 4 faced an additional May 27 primary runoff. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature-filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in these elections was December 9, 2013. Incumbent Jeff Leach was unopposed in the Republican primary. Leach defeated Patrick Peavy (L) in the general election.[1][2][3]

Campaign donors

Comprehensive donor information for Leach is available dating back to 2012. Based on available campaign finance records, Leach raised a total of $340,298 during that time period. This information was last updated on July 24, 2013.[5]

Scorecards

Legislative scorecards are used to evaluate elected public officials based on voting record. Some scorecards are created by political advocacy groups with a focus on specific issues, while others are developed by newspapers and are broad in scope. Scorecards are meant to be used as a tool for voters to have a quick picture of whether their views align with a particular legislator's record.

Because scorecards can be specific to particular issues or general to a state’s legislative term, for example, each report should be considered on its own merits. Each entity that publishes these reports uses different methodologies and definitions for the terms used.

Please see our writing guidelines if you would like to add results from an individual scorecard to this legislator's profile.

2013

In 2013, the Texas State Legislature was in its 83rd legislative session from January 8 through May 27. Thirty minutes after the regular session ended, Governor Rick Perry called legislators back for a special session starting that evening.[6] Two additional called sessions were held from July 1 through July 30 and July 30 through August 5.[7]

Mark P. Jones is the Chair of the Department of Political Science at Rice University. He builds a ranking of Texas state representatives each year based on their votes from the previous session. Jones then ranks legislators based on how liberal and conservative they are according to legislative history.

Empower Texans Fiscal Responsibility Index

Empower Texans produces the Fiscal Responsibility Index as "a measurement of how lawmakers perform on size and role of government issues." The index uses "exemplar votes on core budget and free enterprise issues that demonstrate legislators' governing philosophy." Legislators were graded along a 0 through 100 scale in 2013 and on an A through F grading scale in 2011.

2013

Leach received a score of 93.7 in the 2013 Fiscal Responsibility Index.